


Short and to the Mr. Pointy - Season 3

by Redrikki



Series: Short and to the Mr. Pointy [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:17:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redrikki/pseuds/Redrikki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of drabbles set during Buffy season 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grateful

Grateful  
Giles  
Season three

Thanksgiving had always struck Giles as one of those quaint American holidays where people stuffed one sort of food into another and then into themselves. His first Thanksgiving had been spent alone and he had been grateful for the paid vacation. His second one he spent at the Summers home with a Buffy who was back in town and school, a Joyce who no longer blamed him and more turkey than they could possibly eat. There were smiles and laughter and second helpings of slightly burnt pumpkin pie. It was conspicuous consumption of the finest kind and Giles was grateful.


	2. Never a Dull Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No more nights off for Xander.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'day off' on December 19, 2005.

Never a Dull Moment  
Xander  
Season Three-Zeppo

Xander wondered if it had changed him, all of this fighting evil. Before Buffy, he’d never kissed a mummy or met a vampire walking home in the dark, but now he couldn’t avoid them. Mystical badness seemed to follow him. It was like his own freaky super power of the uncool kind. He was Plot Device Boy or Demon Magnet Man, able to turn any supposedly danger free evening into a regular zombie jamboree. Yeah, it was a skill, and it kind of sucked. Buffy sponsored violence was turning out to be safer. Nope, no more nights off for him.


	3. Sugar Plums

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did vampires celebrate Christmas?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on December 25, 2005.

Sugar Plums  
Xander  
Season Three-Amends

Xander spread out his sleeping bag and wondered if vampires celebrated Christmas. He kind of doubted it, what with their whole cross aversion, but in all the years he’d been camping out they had been as elusive as Santa’s reindeer. Maybe Jesus worked some birthday mojo to bring the world a night of peace like that World War I Christmas truce Xander vaguely remembered from class. There was a bellow and the sound of breaking glass from the house. Most likely the vamps just figured everyone was snug in bed with visions of sugar plum fairies. Boy were they wrong.


	4. Accessories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Faith was never one to accessorize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted December 26, 2005.

Accessories  
Faith  
Season Three-Bad Girls

Faith had never been one to accessorize, but Buffy clearly was. She wore the perfect shoes with each outfit, complimented her still breathing Watcher with a kick ass mom, even matched lipstick with cute little hair clips. No matter what Xander said, Faith figured she was breaking up one sweet set when she did him; Buffy’s cold corpse honey and her hot human boy-toy. Now here Buffy was laughing at the very idea of screwing Xander and Faith was pissed. Story of her life, she finally beat Buffy out of something and it turns out it aint even worth having.


	5. Stoked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snyder was so stoked!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'random' on December 27, 2005.

Stoked  
Snyder  
Third Season-Band Candy

He was so stoked! For once, Snyder got to hang out with the cool kids. He’d never thought of the librarian like that, but tonight with the attitude and the smokes he was the Fonz only British. Joyce was hot, but Summers was beyond cool. She took charge and didn’t take no, drove like a spaz and beat up old guys. She was more wonder woman than Lynda Carter ever was. Helping Summers was almost like being her friend, except she had those so she didn’t need him. Come Monday though, Snyder could get them, ‘cause he was the principal.


	6. New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya hated every minute of her new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'new beginnings' on January 3, 2006.

New Life  
Anya  
Season Three-Dopplegangland

Her new life was math class and brainless high school girls and Anya hated every minute of it. It was all goodbye immortality, hello menstrual stomach cramps and so long righteous punishing power, make room for uncomfortable raging hormones. Stupid males. It was all their fault; the boy who’s cheating lips had brought her here, the librarian who smashed her amulet and even D’Hoffryn who refused to give it back. For over a thousand years Anyanka had brought bloody vengeance to their kind, but it was nothing. Once she got her powers back, then they’d see what vengeance really was.


	7. Pitchfork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grab your torch and pitchforks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'once upon a time' on January 30, 2006.

Pitchfork  
Xander  
Season Three-Gingerbread

Seriously, Xander thought as he ran, what kind of people eat someone’s house? The same kind of people that roast old women and try to kill his friends apparently. Stupid Hansel and Gretel. As soon as he and Oz out ran this mob they’d rescue the girls and kick a little junior-sized demon ass. Assuming they made it that far. Some of these people had pitchforks. Pitchforks? In Sunnydale? From where, the angry mob supply shop (for all your rioting needs)? If fairy tales had to be true, it couldn’t have been a kinder, gentler once upon a time?


	8. Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xander ran his hands through her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'red' on February 13, 2006.

Hair  
Xander  
Season Three-Homecoming

Xander ran his hands through her hair as he kissed her. It was red and felt like the tag-line off a conditioner bottle; silky, smooth and manageable. He could remember when it had been more auburn-y and he used to braid it for her before school. It had been so simple in those auburn days. She was his Willow and he her Xander and no touches were naughty. Red haired Willow was Oz’s girl, Oz’s girl who Xander was kissing when he had a brunette Cordy. Willow’s hair was red, clean and silky and touching it made him feel dirty.


	9. Seduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The car was red, but he deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'red' on February 13, 2006.

Seduction  
Giles  
Season Five-Real Me

As he had told Spike, the Citroen had been serviceable. It may not have been pretty, or very fast, and the gears tended to stick, but it had been sensible and cheap. Now he needed a new car. He had planned on something reliable and hardy, a used Volvo maybe, but then he saw it. It was red, sporty and not the least bit sensible but he wanted it. As he drove it home he almost felt cliche, but it was no mid-life crisis. Yes, his car was red, yes it was fast and sleek, but frankly he deserved it.


	10. Acme Concussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xander saw stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'birds' on March 21, 2006.

Acme Concussions  
Xander  
Summer between Seasons 2 &3

Xander saw stars as he slid down the side of the mausoleum. It was all cool and cartoon-y in a painful, concussed sort of way. All that was missing was a halo of annoying chirping birds fluttering around his head. The fight seemed to be going badly, grey and strangely spinney, so Xander dragged himself up to go block some more blows with his face. Operation Punching-bag proved a winning strategy. They managed to stake the vamp without getting killed and this latest concussion came with birdies. Xander wondered if at this rate he’d have any brains left come fall.


	11. Thing of Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The knife was a thing of beauty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'beauty' on April 10, 2006.

Things of Beauty  
Faith  
Season Three

It had been a thing of beauty, wicked awesome from the way it smelled to the way the light hit the blood channels, and he’d given it to her. Some might see it as just a tool to do his killing, but Faith had known what she’d held. Not just a knife but respect due a warrior and solid proof of the Boss’s love. But then she’d thrown it away to save that useless shit Wesley and now she had it back it was killing her. His love and respect was painful and the irony was a thing of beauty.


	12. The Prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'tradition' on April 17, 2006.

The Prom  
Anya  
Season Three-The Prom

The prom was just another stupid teenage mating ritual leading to heartache, unwanted pregnancy and the inevitable desire for vengeance until someone asked who she was going with. Suddenly, she had to go. Her life of vengeance was over and, if she was to live as a mortal woman, she must experience this prom. She followed standard protocol; she procured a date, found the perfect dress, acquired matching shoes and even got her hair done. As the posed awkwardly for their photo Xander asked if it was really necessary. “Of course,” she ground out through her fixed smile, “it’s tradition.”


	13. Staying Dry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When trouble rained down, Principle Snyder meant to stay dry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'April showers' on April 24, 2006.

Staying Dry  
Principal Snyder  
Season Three

Springtime in Sunnydale; warm weather and youthful high spirits. Snyder did not approve. Running a school on the Hellmouth was hard enough without skimpy spring fashions, frisbees in the courtyard and increased class cutting. The school had its share of unfortunate incidents year round, but April showers usually brought chaos flowers, and by finals scandals and murders popped up like weeds. Well, this year it wouldn’t do, not the centennial year. Snyder would have to keep a close eye on Summers, crack down on gum chewers and maybe when the trouble rained down he wouldn’t be the one getting wet.


	14. Inner Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ripper isn't as long gone as Giles likes to pretend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'old friends' on May 2, 2006.

Inner Youth  
Giles  
Season Three-Dead Man’s Party

Giles liked to claim that Ripper was long gone, but Ethan was right to doubt. Of course, he was dead wrong as to what brought the old boy out. Ethan fancied himself the cause, but it was petty tyrants like Snyder and moments like this that brought Ripper surging to the fore. Threaten his Slayer will he? Smirk about it will he? Ripper body-checked Snyder into the filing cabinet and snarled in satisfaction at the wanker’s fear and shock that Giles’ stuttering Britishness hid him. Mortification could come later but for now Giles was surprisingly glad to see Ripper again.


	15. Sunnydale Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weathermen had promised a California Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'hot/cold' on June 6, 2006.

Sunnydale Winter  
Xander  
Season Three-Amends

The weathermen had promised a nice California Christmas, warm and precipitation-free, the perfect weather for sleeping outside. Xander had fallen asleep warm and toast-y to the familiar lullaby of breaking crockery and woken up wet and covered in snow. The day was sunless and cheerless, his parents were surly and hung-over and none of his friends were home. It was the Christmas of suck and when school started up he found out why. The universe had swooped in to save Angel un-dead ass with a snowy Deus ex machina, once again leaving the rest of them out in the cold.


	16. High School Geology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> High school had been like California geology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'heat' on July 17, 2006.

High School Geology  
Xander  
Season Three-Graduation Day II

Xander returned to the sight of their still smoldering substitute volcano to reflect. High School had been like California geology; a million different fault lines shaking his world. There had been all these little collisions, all these little earthquakes; boy meets girl, boy meets forces of darkness, hell dimension meets slightly less hellish this dimension. High School tectonics had made him the way that the earth made metamorphic rocks, years of heat and pressure burning away innocent freshman Xander leaving a battle hardened Xander-shaped rock. He dreaded to think what it would take to make him feel like an adult.


	17. Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't fair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'green' on March 19, 2007.

Fair  
Faith  
Season 3

It wasn’t fair. Faith was a Slayer too. She’d paid her dues, clocked the hours and what did she have to show for it? Just a crappy motel room that wasn’t Spartan so much as a friggin’ dump and her there all alone. Who had her Watcher? Her friends? Her perfect suburban existence with the loving mom? Little Miss Buffy that’s who. And the real kicker, the girl didn’t even care. Would serve her right if it all got taken from her. It wasn’t jealousy. Envy was a green-eyed monster, but Faith’s were brown. She just knew what was fair.


	18. After the Beep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xander just kept calling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'message' on March 27, 2007.

After the Beep  
Xander  
Season 3-The Wish

How could Xander even begin to apologize? She wouldn’t even let him visit her at the hospital and had the nurses toss his flowers, but he couldn’t blame her. Their relationship had never resembled perfect, but he’d doomed it with Willow kissage. He knew he had hurt Cordy, wounding her pride, impaling her gut, and maybe even breaking her heart. If only he could see her. That they were over was news from the file marked duh, but maybe if he saw her he could do... something. Her answering machine beeped in his ear. He sighed and left another message.


	19. Passed Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why is this night different from all other nights?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the [Open_on_Sunday](http://open_on_sunday.livejournal.com/) challenge 'Passover' on April 2, 2007.

Passed Over  
Willow  
Season Three

On the first night of Passover the Rosenberg house was empty save one. Willow had opened up the Haggadah to the Four Questions. “Why is this night different from all other nights?” the page asked. A few years ago, there would have been matzah ball soup, wine for the prophet Elijah, and little Willow reading the Questions to her parents’ praise. But today this night was no different, so when Buffy called and asked if she wanted to come to the Bronze, Willow said yes. Staying in the empty house was like eating bitter herbs and parsley dipped in tears.


	20. Clear the System

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anya resolved to do whatever it took to get Xander Harris out of her system.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [ prompt 029 season 3/4 in 2007.](http://still_grrr.livejournal.com/)

Clear the System  
Anya  
Season 3 - Graduation Day

Stupid boy, Anya thought as she drove north from Sunnydale. Ascension coming, you’d think he’s want to be safe, but no. Did penis-having make you mentally deficient, or did all humans have the self-preservation instincts of lemmings? Anya was smarter than that. No one, not even the least despicable male she knew, was worth getting eaten for. So why did she want to turn around? Why did the idea of him in danger make her want to vomit? Well, no more. If he didn’t die, Anya resolved to do whatever it took to get Xander Harris out of her system.


	21. Training Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley hadn't been trained for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [ Still_grrr ](http://still_grrr.livejournal.com/) prompt 057 'Wesley' on March 19, 2008.

Training Day  
Wesley  
Season 3 - Bad Girls

Wesley stood with his hands tied behind his back and tried not to hyperventilate. His Council training had in no way prepared him for this scenario. How did a Watcher deal with being kidnaped? Mr. Giles was head-butting a vampire, but Wesley was sure that couldn’t be right. Weren’t rescue and fighting what Slayers were for? Watchers guided, they researched, they managed and they recorded; they did not head-butt. Giles’s sword mussed Wesley’s hair as it took off the head of the vampire behind him. Wesley knew this sword-play was decidedly un-Watcherly behavior, but damned if it didn’t look cool.


	22. California Dreaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were no flowers in Faith's room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [ prompt 028 'season 3/4' in 2008.](http://still_grrr.livejournal.com/)

California Dreaming  
Xander/ Faith  
Season 3 - Graduation

There were no flowers here. Xander supposed the mayor would have brought some if he hadn’t gotten all crispy crittered, but his single rose would have to do. The nurse thought he was Faith’s boyfriend. He didn’t tell her about the motel room sex and the strangling. That was lot less romantic and a lot more messed up.  
“Say something,” said the nurse, “she can hear you.”

Good to know but what to say? I’m sorry? I’m glad? Get well soon, but try not to kill people? This was awkward and the open road was calling. “Pleasant dreams, Faith,” he said finally, kissed her forehead, and left.

****

 

Faith’s dream smelled of roses as the dark-haired hotty pinned a corsage to her dress. Prom night and everything was five by five. The boss kissed her forehead as they headed out the door. “Have fun, kids. Try to be home by ten.”


	23. Comeback Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan really should have known better than to come back to Sunnydale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [ prompt 69 'Band Candy' in 2008.](http://still_grrr.livejournal.com/)

Comeback Kid  
Ethan  
Season 3 - Band Candy

He really should have known better than to come back to Sunnydale, but Ethan couldn’t pass up an opportunity to torment his old friend, wreak a little havoc and make an obscene amount of money all at the same time. But now Ripper and his Slayer were here. Not Giles the sniveling, tweed-clad librarian; Ripper with his beat-up jeans, cheap smokes and bottomless well of anger. Ethan had quite forgotten what his friend had been like back then. He really should have known better than to pick that spell. Now Ripper was here and all Ethan could do was run.

**Author's Note:**

> Drabbles originally written between 2005 and 2008.


End file.
